Instructions for pre-examiners (School of Science)
Evaluation process of the doctoral thesis and purpose of the pre-examination
The examination of the thesis starts with the pre-examination of the thesis: two independent pre-examiners will give their statements on the thesis. Based on these statements, the doctoral programme committee will decide on granting permissionfor public defence either directly or after revisions, depending on the statements.
Once permission for public defence has been granted, the thesis will be published already before the public defence: .
Finally, the thesis will be examined at a public examination/defence by the opponent(s). The final acceptance of the thesis i decided by the Doctoral Programme Committee of the School of Science based on the statements by the pre-examiners and opponent(s).
Forms of theses
An approved doctoral thesis may be:
- Monograph
- Article-based doctoral thesis
- Research paper-based doctoral thesis
- Other work which meets corresponding scientific criteria
1. Monograph
A monograph is a coherent writing based on the work of the doctoral candidate and written by the candidate. The monograph may contain references to previous works by the doctoral candidate on the same topic. The independent contribution of the candidate must be described.
The doctoral thesis describes the research problem, the research goals, the used methods and results, and presents a summary of the key findings. The summary shall assess the significance of the study for the discipline.
Examination: Examining a monograph requires particular precision and carefulness, since the content is examined as something new.
2. Article-based doctoral thesis
An article-based doctoral thesis consists of a set of publications on a related set of problems, and a summary of the findings.
The articles included in the doctoral thesis are published or submitted for publication in an high level acknowledged peer-reviewed forum in the discipline (for example a scientific publication series, conference proceedings or other work). Articles not yet accepted for publication can also be included in the doctoral thesis. The number of publications required for the thesis depends on their extent, scientific significance and quality as well as on the weight of the independent contribution of the doctoral candidate to the publications.
The articles may also include co-authored publications if the author's independent contribution to them can be demonstrated. An article can be included in several theses if the separate contribution of the doctoral candidate can be demonstrated.
The summary of the article-based doctoral thesis is an independent entity, which provides an overview of the thesis contents. The summary shall describe the research problem, research goals and methods, and presents a summary of the key findings. The summary shall assess the significance of the study for the discipline. The summary shall contain a list of the publications included in the thesis and describe the independent contribution of the candidate in each publication separately.
Examination: In an article-based thesis, all or some of the articles have already undergone peer review. The examination is thus directed with particular precision and carefulness on the unpublished manuscript and on the summary.
3. Research paper-based doctoral thesis
A research paper-based doctoral thesis consists of scientific essays/papers and a summary. The papers and the summary shall deal with a single research problem or set of problems.
Each of the essays/papers shall contain new results and viewpoints, and shall primarily be based on independent research by the author, but also collaboratively written essays may be accepted as part of the doctoral thesis.
The number of papers required depends on their extent, scientific significance and quality as well as on the weight of the independent contribution of the author to the essays.
The summary describes the research problem, research goals and methods, and presents a summary of the key findings. The summary shall assess the significance of the study for the discipline. The summary contains a description of the independent contribution of the author in each of the essays.
Examination: In a research paper-based thesis, the examination is directed with particular precision and carefulness on the unpublished essays/papers and on the summary.
Pre-examination statement
The pre-examiners are requested to present their free-form statement and the evaluation table within four weeks from the initial receipt of the official request, so that the examination process of the thesis can be completed within the time set by the regulations of the school. The statement and evaluation table (please see below) are sent to the Doctoral Programme Committee. Pre-examiners must submit their own, separate statements.
After receiving the statements, the decision on permission for public defence will be made by the Doctoral Programme Committee. The Doctoral Programme Committee committee will take into account the pre-examination statements and a possible written reply from the doctoral candidate before the decision is made. The Doctoral Programme Committee may, at its discretion, ask that the doctoral candidate makes an account of the corrections that have been made, verified by the supervising professor. The Doctoral Programme Committee may also see that the corrected manuscript is pre-examined again.
The purpose of the pre-examination is to establish whether the manuscript fulfills general quality requirements and whether the thesis is ready for publication. Therefore, particular attention should be paid to the following aspects:
- The scientific correctness of the thesis, and the clarity of the hypotheses or the objectives of the research, particularly when examining parts that have not been peer-reviewed yet
- The sufficiency of the doctoral candidate’s own research input (particularly if the thesis includes co-authored publications)
- The significance and status of the thesis in the field
- The scope of the thesis and the sufficiency of the material
- The doctoral candidate’s ability to obtain results from the material examined in the thesis
- The logic of the thesis’s structure
- The knowledge and use of literature in the field and the ability to use references correctly
- Language
In your individual statement, you should give a summation of the most important results and merits of the thesis along with discovered shortcomings. You should not embark on an actual supervision of the research or go too deep into giving suggestions for improvement. If necessary, you may discuss the thesis with the doctoral candidate or with the supervising professor in order to confirm some details in the thesis. However, you shall not improve the thesis together with the doctoral candidate before writing your statement. Necessary corrections and suggestions for improvement are mentioned in the pre-examination statement.
As a pre-examiner, you are also asked to evaluate whether the manuscript can be accepted for publication as a doctoral thesis as it is or after making some required necessary corrections. If there are no required necessary corrections, a sufficient length for the statement is 1-2 pages. If you additionally wish to present some comments or suggestions concerning the further development of the research (e.g., to support the publication of unpublished papers), you should clearly indicate in the statement that these comments do not require any changes in the manuscript before it can be accepted for publication as a doctoral thesis.
Editorial comments to the manuscript can either be included in the statement, or sent directly to the doctoral candidate. If you send them directly to the candidate, you should mention this in your statement. Please note that it is the supervising professor’s responsibility to check that the editorial corrections are addressed. You should write your statement on the version that was sent to you from the Doctoral Programme in Science.
In addition to the statement, you are asked to evaluate the thesis using the evaluation table. The following aspects shall be considered:
Are the general quality requirements for doctoral theses of Aalto University fulfilled in
the thesis you are examining?
- Novelty: The doctoral thesis contains new scientific knowledge in the field it represents.
- Presentation: The doctoral thesis presents the new results clearly and scientifically and the language of the thesis is fluent.
- Contribution: The independent contribution of the doctoral student is sufficient and clearly demonstrable.
- Scientific methods: The research methods, experimental setups, measurements, and the data presented fulfil the criteria set for scientific research.
- Research ethics: The doctoral thesis conforms to the principles of responsible conduct of research and adheres to ethically sustainable principles.
Please note that if you evaluated that any of the above quality requirements are are not fullfilled (=fail), you should suggest either 0 or 1 on the question below. Please fill this out in the evaluation table.
Is the thesis ready to be published?
Based on your evaluation, please give your recommendation by selecting one of the following:
- 3: The manuscript can be published as is or the manuscript can be published after minor revisions: revisions are to be made to the satisfaction of the supervisor.
- 2: Revisions are needed before publication: revisions are to be made to the satisfaction of the Doctoral Programme Committee after the supervisor’s review.
- 1: Major revisions are needed: a revised manuscript and a report on corrections / changes/ counterarguments must be sent back to the pre-examiner for re-examination.
- 0: The current thesis manuscript is not acceptable.
Doctoral thesis award
In the School of Science about 10% of the doctoral thesis are awarded annually. If you consider the thesis to be of exceptionally high quality on international level and should be recommended for a doctoral thesis award, please indicate this in your statement. If the thesis is of particular scientific merit, particularly significant in its field of research and has outstanding international significance, the pre-examiner should propose it to be awarded with the annual thesis award. In this case, the thesis should be among the top 10 % of its field and fulfill the following requirements:
- the thesis has particular scientific merits
- the results are exceptionally significant in the research field
- the student has a significant independent contribution in obtaining the results
- the manner of representation is clear, and the language and reference practice used are
first-rate